Nintendo Switches Bloodstained from Wii U to Switch

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night promises to be bloodier, edgier, and darker than your average Nintendo game, but if you were expecting to play it on your Wii U—well, that’s a promise that couldn’t be kept.

Game director Koji Igarashi informed fans and kickstarter backers today: “During our Kickstarter campaign, the Wii U was at the height of its popularity, but the situation has drastically changed after the release of Nintendo Switch.”

Igarashi also added that “This change made it difficult to receive the necessary support from the hardware maker, which has led us to drop the Wii U development and shift the development to Nintendo Switch.”

He concluded the announcement with an apology: “We are very sorry that it has come to this after all your support, but we hope you will understand.”

The death of the Wii U and its generation of games has been common knowledge since January 2017 when Nintendo announced that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would be the final title of the doomed console.

However, this development is a demonstration of how even promised and financially supported games were not exempt from the rapid apoptosis of the Wii U. It’s a sign that Nintendo is eager to bet on a new horse, even at the expense of previous deals.

While Bloodstained garnered millions of dollars in an incredibly successful Kickstarter Campaign, this latest development is yet another misstep in a series of revoked promises.

Despite its initial release date being set for March 2017, the game was pushed back to 2018 last fall.

The Kickstarter campaign for the game is attempting to rectify the situation by offering a free Switch version of the game to anyone who thought they were scoring a Wii U version when they donated. Players can also change consoles to Linux/Mac/PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita or Xbox One.

Or they can cancel their order entirely and receive a refund, but only if they apply for one by April 20th, 2017.

Whether or not Bloodstained will be a successful spiritual successor to the deceased Castlevania series remains to be seen. Hopefully, Koji Igarashi can ensure that the only thing staining this game’s release from now on will be blood.